Athens-Clarke County commissioners voted 8-2 to overhaul the county's rights-of-way ordinance, banning camping on sidewalks, streets, under bridges and in other public rights of way across the city. The new rule also outlaws prowling and is paired with $1 million earmarked for homelessness-related services, though exactly how that money will be spent remains an open question for the commissioners who approved it.
The vote came Tuesday night, according to WUGA, which reported that the amended ordinance now prohibits camping on sidewalks, bikeways, streets and other public areas adjacent to commercial districts. The station also reported that commissioners raised questions about how the $1 million in funding attached to the ordinance would actually be allocated. Two commissioners voted against the change, according to WSB-TV.
What Counts as Camping Under the New Rule
Per WSB-TV's reporting, the amended ordinance prohibits using public spaces for sleeping or preparing to sleep, including laying down bedding, storing personal property and belongings, making fires to cook, and using a tent or other habitation structure in public areas. The measure states that these activities constitute camping if, in light of all the circumstances, it reasonably appears a person is using the area as a living accommodation — regardless of that person's intent or any other activity taking place. Standing, sitting, lying down, or using personal property in ways that block passage in public areas can also violate the ordinance, the station reported.
The rule applies to areas owned by local government as well as private property, though property owners may permit otherwise banned activities through express prior written permission, per WSB-TV. First-offense violations will draw a warning rather than a citation, the outlet reported, while repeat violators who continue after warnings can receive citations, and authorities may confiscate belongings of repeat violators depending on the situation.
Prowling Added to the Ordinance
The reformed ordinance also bans prowling, which it defines as being in a place at an unusual time or in an unusual manner under circumstances that cause justified and reasonable concern or alarm, according to WSB-TV. The outlet reported that prowling activities under the new definition include running away when law enforcement arrives, refusing to identify oneself, and trying to conceal oneself or objects in one's possession.
The new rule is set to take effect 90 days after Tuesday's vote, which WUGA reported lands on January 6. WSB-TV specified that date as January 6, 2027.
Police Co-Responder Unit and Funding Questions
Alongside the camping ban, one of the Athens-Clarke County Police Department's behavioral co-responder units will be based downtown Athens, according to WSB-TV's reporting, and the commission will use $1 million to develop temporary emergency housing. Yet how that $1 million will be allocated remained unclear even after the vote, with WUGA reporting that commissioners themselves questioned the funding's path forward.
The ordinance change follows years of county investment in homelessness response. In March 2022, the Athens-Clarke County Mayor and Commission authorized $5 million in ARPA funds for homelessness initiatives, according to Athens-Clarke County government. The county also described the First Step Homeless Encampment and an Eviction Prevention Program as two additional ARPA projects, separate from that $5 million funding. In 2023, the commission approved an $800,000 Eviction Prevention Program contract award to Family Promise of Athens.
Homelessness Trends in Athens
The ordinance arrives against a backdrop of rising need locally. The number of homeless individuals and families counted in Athens-Clarke County increased by 20% in 2023 compared with the prior year, according to the Athens Homeless Coalition. That year's Point-in-Time count tallied 342 homeless individuals, including 165 sheltered and 177 unsheltered people, the coalition reported. More than 75% of those counted said they had lived in Athens before becoming homeless. The coalition's 2020 barriers-to-housing data showed that 24% of surveyed adults were chronically homeless.
Athens joins a broader national trend of local governments tightening public-camping rules. In City of Grants Pass v. Johnson, the U.S. Supreme Court noted that, like many local governments across the nation, Grants Pass, Oregon, had public-camping laws restricting encampments on public property, according to the Supreme Court's opinion in the case.
